Greetings from Luckenbach, TX! A Photo Essay

They say Willie Nelson would invite 1000s of his closest friends to Luckenbach for his annual 4th of July party. And that was just the performers...

3/7/155:55 pm

Published: March 7, 2015Updated: June 2, 2018

By Nathan Swartz

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I had first heard of Luckenbach in a story told by Todd Snider.

Which lead me to my first Jerry Jeff Walker record, Viva Terlingua!

Which lead me to a love of 1970s “alt” country, though I’m not sure it was considered that at the time. Music is at the heart of this little Texas Hill Country town, but that is only a minor part of the draw it sketches over me as my family and I walk the grassy banks of the river that flows through town, as we peruse the flickering shadows the ancient oaks and cypress trees paint the earth and as we cross bridges and open beers to watch modern day minstrels do their daily thing in the town’s post office / bar / general store.

To say this is a small town would make it hard to continue the definition. The population is 3, and in 1970 it was purchased–the entire town–by a single individual by the name of Hondo.

I could ramble and rant on. I could tell you about the old cowboy who deputized my two younger children and insisted that all deputies must be paid, in candy of course. Or about the pale ale I had to have two of, damn near locally brewed and no, not a Shiner. I could go on about the roosters or the license plates or the bikers, but instead I’ll just let a few pictures do the majority of the talking.

The watchdog…er…License plates from all over the continent.The locals. See more on our Instagram feed.Plenty of wood to keep the fires going in the post office/bar.Hondo, former Mayor of the town, had an infatuation with the big moon over Luckenbach. A sign in the bar reads “Nothing much happened in Luckenbach this month, ‘cept the potato chip man came-and then there was the moon.”

Published: March 7, 2015Updated: June 2, 2018

Nathan is the Editor-in-Chief around these parts, and has been traveling by train, bike, VW Bus and Airstream since 2008. He's on Instagram.